EU perceptions through the FTA lens: main results of interviews among the Korean "elites

Abstract

The Korea-EU relations have undergone a substantive change during the last two decades. The bilateral Framework Agreement, which was first signed in 1996 and updated in 2009, has upgraded the bilateral relationship to a considerable extent. The common membership of Korea and the EU to the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has also expanded and deepened the channels of official contacts between the two parties. Among these factors, the Korea-EU FTA Agreement, which was initialed in October 2009, appears to have the potential to affect the relationship most strongly. The results of elites' interviews conducted during September 2009-April 2010 largely verifies this in a number of interesting aspects. Especially, most of the Korean elites perceive the Korea-EU FTA as an opportunity to maximize the effects arising from "the expanded markets", "reduced market risks" and "harmonized European business practices leading to reduced transactions costs". This also has had substantially positive impact on their perception of the EU's importance to Korea.